Staff SGT. Henry Ybarra III

Staff SGT. Henry Ybarra, III was born on February 26, 1971 in Austin, Texas. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in August, 1990. He attended AIT in Ft. Lee, Virginia. His first duty assignment was at Ft. Riley, Kansas where he served as a prescribed load list clerk from 1991-1993. SSG Ybarra’s left Ft. Riley and went to 1/1 Air CAV in Hanau, Germany; he served as a Supply Technician from 1993-1998. His next duty assignment was a computer repair technician for HHC 13TH COSCOM, Ft. Hood, Texas from 1998-2001.

In 2001, SGT Ybarra did an on-post transfer to D/6-6 CAV AVN as a technical supply clerk. He participated in the Longbow Unit Fielding and Training Program; re-deployed with D/6-6 CAV to Storck Barracks, Germany; and deployed with the unit to its present assignment, supporting Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. SSG Ybarra’s military education includes: BASIC, AIT, and Professional Leadership Development Course.

SSG Ybarra’s military awards, honors, and decorations include: Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Good Conduct Medal (3), National Defense Service Medal (2), Armed Forces Service Medal, NCO Professional Development Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon (3), Basic Marks Qualification Badge. SSG Henry Ybarra is remembered by his comrades as the guy who was always smiling and joking. He constantly kept a positive, upbeat attitude. He was strong in his Catholic faith. He was a loyal fan of the Dallas Cowboys and NASCAR racer Dale Earnhardt, Jr..

His true love was his family. Everyday he bragged about his son, his wife’s cooking, and his beautiful daughters. SSG Henry Ybarra, III is survived by his wife Lilian, three children: Alyssa 12, Gabrielle 11, Henry IV; 1, his father Henry Ybarra Jr, mother Mary Jane Hill, brothers Michael, Anthony and sister Evette. SSG Ybarra also leaves behind his nieces and nephews.

Ask anybody who knew Sgt. Henry Ybarra, they will tell you about his smile. It was an ear-to-ear grin, one that rarely left his face and lit up every room he entered. “[He was] calm, collected, never a derogatory remark about anyone,” said Capt. Stephen Murphy, commander of the 6th Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment’s Delta Battery, in which Ybarra served. “And never a sour face.”

Ybarra was the only soldier killed during Task Force 11th Aviation’s yearlong deployment that is now almost complete. But he is one his fellow soldiers won’t soon forget. A supply clerk, Ybarra died Sept. 11 at Logistical Support Area Anaconda, the air base in Balad, Iraq, where his unit has been based since last spring. Ybarra, 32, grew up in Austin, Texas, and joined the Army in 1990 just days after Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi army invaded Kuwait.

He served in Fort Riley, Kan.; Hanau, Germany; and Fort Hood, Texas, before moving with the 6/6 Cavalry to Illesheim, Germany, when the unit redeployed in July 2002 with the new AH-64D Longbow Apache helicopters. Ybarra served as a technical supply clerk, keeping track of spare parts for the squadron’s 21 Longbows — not an easy job during a conflict in which spare parts often are scarce.

At a memorial service in Illesheim four days after his death, Murphy remembered Ybarra as a devout Roman Catholic who rarely missed Sunday Mass, even in a war zone. No less important in his home state of Texas, Ybarra was a devoted fan of the Dallas Cowboys and NASCAR. Most of all, Murphy said, Ybarra loved his wife, Lilian, and his three children: Alyssa, 12; Gabrielle, 11; and Henry IV, 1, who survived him. “He had an outstanding outlook on life,” Murphy said. “One lesson that Sgt. Ybarra has taught me is to smile more, laugh more often, and never let anything get you down.”